Geosynthetic reinforced soil arch structures provide an environmentally preferable and/or less expensive alternative to more traditional construction materials used for bridges, culverts, overpasses and the like, e.g. steel structures, reinforced concrete structures, plastic structures and the like. Geosynthetic reinforced soil arches for use in the design of structures such as bridges, overpasses, snowsheds, landslide or rock fall protection structures, or the like are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,874,974 and 8,215,869 to VanBuskirk, which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Some such arches have a supporting form (typically but not necessarily an arch form) made from a rigid material such as metal, concrete, reinforced concrete, plastic or reinforced plastic. A plurality of alternating layers of compacted soil and reinforcement made from geosynthetics, plastic, metal, wood and/or the like are associated with the supporting form. Some such arches have an archway form, a combination of alternating and interacting layers of compacted mineral soil and reinforcement material associated with the archway form, and a plurality of shear resisting devices extending from the exterior surface of the archway into the reinforced soil mass. Mineral soil can include clay, silt, sand, gravel, cobbles, boulders, broken rock, or mixtures of any of the foregoing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,617 to Fisher, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a composite arch structure comprising an arched liner with compacted fill material or dense soil thereagainst to form a soil arch thereabout. The liner has a foundation comprising yielding footer means.
There remains a need for improved footers for geosynthetic reinforced soil arch structures.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.